Role of Disorder and Oxygen Reduction on Transport Properties in Pr$_{1.83}$Ce$_{0.17}$CuO$_{4\pm\delta}$

We present a study on the effects of changing the oxygen content in the electron-doped superconducting cuprate Pr$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_{4\pm\delta}$ (PCCO). Epitaxial, c-axis oriented, overdoped (x = 0.17) thin films were grown using a pulsed laser deposition technique, and the oxygen content was adjusted during a post-growth annealing process. In addition to the transition temperature (T$_{c}$), measurements of the Hall effect and resistivity were performed at low temperatures (T $<$ T$_{c} $, H $>$ H$_{C2}$) in several films of different oxygen content. We compare the disorder observed in these oxygenated samples with disorder induced by proton irradiation in an optimally annealed (x = 0.17) film. An analysis of the data demonstrates that a change in the oxygen content of PCCO has two separable effects: 1) a disorder effect, and 2) a doping effect similar to that of cerium.